[E-rundbrief] Info 86 - David Krieger: M.L. King's Vietnam-Message Relevant to Iraq

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 86 - David Krieger: Martin Luther King's Message On 
Vietnam is Relevant to Iraq

Bad Ischl, 9.2.2004

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
www.begegnungszentrum.at

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Martin Luther King's Message On Vietnam is Relevant to Iraq

David Krieger*

January 27, 2004

In a lecture in late 1967 over the Canadian Broadcasting Company, Martin 
Luther King, Jr. addressed the subject of "Conscience and the Vietnam War." 
His conscience was clearly telling him that this was a war that made no 
sense and must be stopped.

"Somehow this madness must cease," King said. "We must stop now. I speak as 
a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for 
those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, 
whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are 
paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption 
in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands 
aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of 
my own nation. The great initiative of this war is ours. The initiative to 
stop it must be ours."

King went on to say in his speech, "The war is Vietnam is but a symptom of 
a far deeper malady within the American spirit." Within a few months, that 
malady would result in King's assassination, and over the years since 
King's death that malady would lead America into other wars in other places.

Today, King's words could be transposed from Vietnam to Iraq: "I speak as a 
child of God and a brother to the suffering poor of Iraq
." And it is still 
the "poor of America" who are paying the greatest price, the ultimate price 
on the battlefield and the loss of hope at home, while corporations such as 
Halliburton reap obscene profits.

Over the decades the "malady within the American spirit" that King named 
persists. It is a malady of power, arrogance and greed, a malady that takes 
our high ideals and smashes them in the dust, along with human life, by 
bombs dropped from 30,000 feet. With the power to wage war, our leaders 
have again thumbed their noses at the international community and sent our 
young soldiers to fight and die in an illegal war, authorized neither 
constitutionally nor under international law.

King concluded his speech by saying, "We must move past indecision to 
action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and for justice 
throughout the developing world that borders on our doors. If we do not 
act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark and shameful corridors 
of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might 
without morality, and strength without sight."

The world warned the US against going to war in Iraq. The UN Security 
Council refused to be forced into war or to authorize it, and the US 
president called the UN irrelevant. Millions of people throughout the world 
took to the streets, and the US Administration dismissed them as irrelevant.

Today, the US Administration has had its way, and the terrible scourge of 
war has again been unleashed. Thousands have died, including more than 500 
American soldiers. Tens of thousands have been injured and maimed, 
including thousands of American soldiers. Saddam Hussein has been pulled 
from power and his statues toppled, but Iraq is in chaos as a result of the 
US invasion and occupation, and experts are predicting that a terrible 
civil war lies ahead. No weapons of mass destruction have been found in 
Iraq, although the US president assured us they were there, and American 
soldiers are being confronted daily by bullets, bombs and scorn.

What would King say to us today? Would he be resilient, or would he be 
broken by the "shameful corridors" through which our leaders have dragged 
us? Surely, he would be resilient. He knew the pain of struggle and he knew 
that war and violence only breed more war and violence. But how his heart 
would ache for the lost promise of those destroyed by this war and for the 
poor who bear the burden most. How his heart would ache if he could see how 
little we have progressed in overcoming the maladies of power, arrogance 
and greed. Surely, King's message would be constant, and he would be 
leading a nonviolent struggle today to find the way to peace and respect 
for human dignity in America, Iraq and throughout the world.

*David Krieger is president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He is the 
co-author of "Choose Hope: Your Role in Waging Peace in the Nuclear Age" 
and "Peace: 100 Ideas".

http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2004/01/27_krieger_king-message.htm

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Diese Veranstaltungshinweise wurden zusammengestellt und redigiert von:
Matthias Reichl
Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Wolfgangerstr.26
A-4820 Bad Ischl
Tel. +43-6132-24590
e-mail: mareichl at ping.at
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